The European Union It is a club of States, but it also gives its regions a margin, even if it is small, to express their voice. He wants to cling to this margin the Government to have more weight in the Union and since this Friday it has joined forces with 12 regional governments more to have a better chance of achieving it. The Palau de la Generalitat has hosted the founding act of the Mediterranean Macroregion. The idea is to unite all these sub-state territories with at least something in common, their status as Mediterranean, to defend their shared interests. Interests regarding the climate emergencymigrations, economic development or the management of its ports, to name just a few examples.
The event was held in Barcelona because the president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragones, has been pushing for this idea to see the light for some time. In his opening speech, he called on all Mediterranean regions to join forces in the face of common challenges. The Macroregion, if it ends up counting with the definitive endorsement of the EU, will have the environment one of its priorities. “The Mediterranean is one of the regions of the world most affected by global warming“because it is warming 20% faster than the rest of the planet,” the president warned. One of the consequences, he added, is the drought that is plaguing Catalonia.
The Government’s objective is to “put the Mediterranean on the European agenda” and in the face of this challenge the only strategy is to “cooperate.” Representatives attended this Friday’s meeting at the Palau from 12 other regional governments from six different states involved in this operation. The list is made up the Government of Catalonia; that of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur; Occitania; Corsica; Brittany (France); Calabria; Emilia Romana (Italy); Eastern Greece; Crete (Greece); Shköder; Tirana (Albania); the Oriental and Tangier-Tetouan (Morocco). There have also been representatives of the European institutions such as the Commission and Parliament. Furthermore, the initiative is open to local partners and today City Councils such as Barcelona and Montpellier were represented.
The promoters of the Macroregion remember that there are already other territories in other parts of the continent that have joined together for the same purpose. Right now the macroregion is working Baltica; that of Danube; the Adriatic-Ionian and the Alpine. That the operation is not intended to be hostile to the respective countries is demonstrated by the fact that among those present was the Government’s Secretary of State for the European Union, Pascual Navarro.
Signed statement
The Mediterranean Macroregion had a first endorsement from the European Parliament in May 2023. Now it is looking for the definitive push. There are two steps: submit a formal request to the Council of the European Unionwhich is currently chaired by Spain, and the final decision will fall about the European Commission.
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The Minister of Foreign Action of the Generalitat, Meritxell Serret, did not want to set deadlines, but she did ask that work begin as soon as possible, taking advantage of the Spanish presidency of the Council. The formal request was made this Friday through a political declaration signed by all those attending the meeting. A text that defends that “the future of the Mediterranean and Europe are intrinsically intertwined.” “We want it to be a reality as soon as possible,” said the councilor.
The initiative of President Aragonès has a certain ‘Maragallian’ inspiration -by the former president Pasqual Maragall– for the sake of trying give to Catalonia a European vocation despite not being a State and also despite not always having felt well represented in the EU. Starting this Friday, he hopes to achieve this better representation through of the Macroregion.